Manifolding attachment for typewriters



Dec. 23,.194 1.

E. Z. LEWIS MANIFbLDING ATTACHMENT FOR TYPEWRITERS I Filed Aug. 12, 19402 Sheets-Sheet l ZZINVEIYTOR. 'am /@lL6,

ATTORNEYS.

E. Z. LEWIS Dec. 23, 1941.

MANIFOLDING ATTACHMENT FOR TYPEWRITERS.

Filed Aug. 12, 1940 r Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 23, 1941 MANIFOLDINGATTACHMENT FOB TYPE- WRITERS Edward Z. Lewls,'Evanston, 111., assignorto General Manifold & Printing Co., a corporation of PennsylvaniaApplication August 12, 1940, Serial No. 352,312

4 Claims.

This invention relates to manifolding attachments for typewriters and isparticularly directed to that type of manifolding apparatus wherein thecarbon and the paper or form are wrapped around the typewriter platen aplurality of times.

In this type of apparatus it is essential that the paper or the formswhich are to be typed are aligned, with their lower edges exactlyparallel with the axis of the platen so that upon winding of the paperaround the platen by rotation of the latter, the various superimposedlayers will not be laterally offset from one another. Furthermore, it isdesirable that this positioning of the paper or the forms maybe effectedrapidly and easily.

The general object of my invention is to provide an improved manifoldingattachment for typewriters, by means of which these results are ef"fectively accomplished.

More specifically, the object is to provide a series of shelves behindand above the platen, each having a series of forms thereon, the formson one shelf being of a different length from those on other shelves,whereby any form may be drawn forwardly and downwardly, clamped to theplaten and wrapped around the same a plurality of times, depending onthe length of said forms.

Another object is to provide means for positioning any one of a numberof forms of various number of parts, in typing position, interleavedwith a single, long sheet of carbon, using the same movement to guideeach form in the same path to the correct position.

' Another object is to provide, in connection with a manifoldingattachment of the type described, improved means for the positioning ofpaper or forms with respect to the platen A further object is to provideimproved gripping means for clamping the forms to the typewriter platenin the correct position.

A further object is to provide improved guide means for facilitating thecorrect positioning of the forms with respect to the platen.

A further object is to provide means guarding against the multilation ofthe carbon sheet in the event of the continued reverse move ment of theplaten when the unwinding of the interwound form and carbon iscomplete.v

A further object is to provide a variety of stacks I of bills, thelateral edges of which are all in uniform alignment with the guides onthe ends of a carbon spring roller and arranged one above the other withthe front edges successively farther to the rear, on superimposedshelves.

A further object is to provide means for utilizing' the entire area ofthe carbon by variably for safetrimming the edge of the form thatcontacts the platen.

A further object is to provide a carbon sheet with a fabric edge towithstand the wear and tear occasioned by continued winding andrewinding.

A further object is to provide means for actuating the gripping meanswithout. disturbing the position of the paper after it has been aligned.

A further object is to provide an improved associated with any ordinarytypewriter.

Other objects, features and advantages will become apparent as thedescription proceeds.

With reference to the drawings,in which like reference numerals refer tolike parts:

' Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a typewriter equipped with a preferredembodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the forms which is adapted tocooperate with the attachment shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an elevation, partly in section, of a portion of the manifoldattachment shown also in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an elevation, partly in section, of the platen and carbonsupply roller shown in Fig. 3 but shown in this figure at a difierentstage of its operation;

Fig. 5 is a detailed perspective view of the gripper and actuating camtherefor, which are shown in elevation in Fig. 3; i

Fig. 6 is an elevation of a modification; and

Fig. 7 is an elevation of another modification.

In the drawings, the reference numeral l0 indicates a typewriter of anystandard type having a frame I 1 upon which is mounted a carriage I! ofmore or less conventional form. Positioned to the rear of the typewriteris a rack or series of shelves l3, adapted to hold long strips of formsof various lengths, each made up of units which are preferablydetachable from each other. The operator selects the top strip of anyone of these piles of forms and draws the front end forwardly anddownwardly to the platen with its manifolding attachment ll, ashereinafter described.

The rack l3 comprises end pieces or legs l5, l6, which support aplurality of horizontal shelves l1, l8, l9, and 20,.spaced verticallyfrom one another and being of different lengths so that each one maysupport a stack of forms which are of a length corresponding to thehorizontalmemher. The front leg I! rests in the lower rear portion ofthe frame so that the rack is rigidly located with respect to thetypewriter. Diagonally disposed hinged braces Ii, 22, are provided tomanifolding attachment which may be readily permit the rack to be foldedwhen it is removed from the typewriter and not in use.

A plurality of vertical side members 23 space the horizontal shelvesfrom each other and also serve to confine the forms against sidemovements. Vertical stops 24 are provided at the rear of each of thehorizontal shelves to prevent the forms from being displaced backwardly.Downwardly inclined tabs 25, 26, 21, are provided at the forward ends ofthe horizontal shelves, the purpose of which will be set forthhereinafter.

Referring now to Fig. 3, the carriage l2 comprises side frames 29 inwhich the platen 30 is journaled. At the rear of said side frames aretwo like upwardly disposed. arms 3| between which is journaled thecarbon supply roller 32. Said arms, one of which is partly broken awayin this view, are reinforced by cross member 33. Two upwardly extendingbrackets 34, 34, are also provided on the side frames and are positionedjust behind the platen and,have journaled therein a transverse shaft 35,at either end of which shaft are aiflxed the actuating cams 36, one ofwhich is part of a bell crank lever with a rearwardly extending arm 31to permit manual actuation of the cams, said arm, by way ofillustration, being mounted at the right hand end of said shaft,,

' as shown in Fig. 3. A spring 38 is provided to maintain the cam 36normally in the position shown in Fig. 3, i. e. in uppermost position.

The platen 30, a portion of which is broken away in the figure so thatpart of it is shown in section, has secured to its ends plates 40 and4|, these plates being roughly circular in form, and one at least beingmade of fairly thin metal and hence being flexible. Said plates have 'aperforated ear 42 projecting from each and serving as a journal for theshaft 43. which extends from one plate to the other. A gripper 44 orclamping plate is welded or otherwise suitably affixed to said shaft andat one end has an extension 45, as shown in Fig. 5, to which is attacheda spring 46 for maintaining the gripper in the closed position shown inFig. 3. The other end of the spring 46 may be aflixed to the plate 40 ormay bear against the platen 30 in any suitable manner.

A small pinion '41 is fixed to one end of the shaft 48 on which theplaten is mounted, the pinion meshing with a larger gear 49 which ismounted on a shaft 50, which shaitis journaled in vertical side platesand 52, shown in Fig. l. The shaft 50 projects beyond the plate 52 andis provided with a knob 53 by means of which the platen 30 may bemanually rotated in much the usual manner, except that in the presentembodiment it is considered preferable to gear up the platen shaft 48with respect to shaft 50 at a four to one ratio so that a completerotation of the knob 53 will cause the platen to rotate four times.This, however, is purely a matter of preference and any appropriate gearratio may be used. 5? Another exception is that said .knob must .beurned in the opposite direction from that usually followed, in view of.the geared connection. For example, to rotate the platen in a forwarddirection, such as is employed as the successive lines are typed on theusual typewriter (the direction opposite that indicated by the arrow inFig. 3), the said knob would be rotated in a counter-clockwise directionas viewed in Fig. 1 -and in a clockwise direction .as viewed in Fig. 3.

Upon one of the brackets 34 is pivotally mounted a manually actuated arm54 having a roller 55 at the end thereof which is yieldingly heldbetween the teeth of the usual ratchet wheel at the end of the platen,and which insures the proper spacing of the lines.

The carbon supply roller is a spring roller,

having a shaft and the concentric cylinder 32 to which are aflixed ateither end thereof convenient discs 62 and 63. The carbon paper 64 iswound on this roller and may be unwound against the pull of a helicalspring 65 which surrounds the shaft 60, as shown in Fig. 3.

1 Initially the leading edge of the carbon paper is laid over the groovein the platen designed to receive the shaft 43 and the latter is thensprung into the apertured ears 42 in the flexible plate 4| and in thecorresponding plate 40, thereby adjustably clamping the carbon paper tothe platen, see Figs. 3 and 5. The operator may now pull down one of theforms from one of the rear-shelves and engage the leading edge of theform under the gripper 44 so that the form overlies the carbon paper andis clamped against the same and hence against the platen as well. If theplaten is now rotated in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 3, theform is wrapped around the platen as many times as the length of theform will permit;

The typing operation may now be performed in the usual manner and theimpression made on the outer layer of the paper of which the form, iscomposed will be transmitted to the underlying layers by means of thecarbon paper,

whereby a plurality of copies may be made, as

will be understood.

One of the forms 10 is shown in Fig. 2 and is perforated or has lines ofweakening ll so that it may be torn subsequently to the typing operationinto a plurality of sections or units I2, I3, I4 and 15.

To compensate for the increased diameter of the platen with itsoverlying layers of carbon and paper forms, the printed lines on theforms indicating where some of the typing is to take place, are atdifferent distances from the lower edge thereof.

In order to provide a backing member or guide for the span of carbonpaper between the spring roller and the platen, I provide preferably asheet metal plate 80 supported at the rear on the cross bar 33 andhaving its front part bent downwardly at 8|, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

. The forward end is provided with a round bar or rod 82 to preventdamaging the carbon paper. The backing member 8| cooperates with any one"of the tabs 25, 26 or 21 to form a guide for the form as it isdrawn tothe platen to be gripped by the gripper 44 in a manner which will behereinafter. set forth more fully.

Referring again to Fig. 3 and the operation of the cam 36, the latter isnormally inoperative, being out of contact with the platen. The arm 31(at the right hand side of the platen). which is integralwith said cam,may be pulled forwardly using .the right hand and held temporarily(against the action of the spring 38) so that said cam rests on theperiphery of the platen. If now the platen is rotated in a forwarddirection, 1. e. the direction reverse to the arrow shown in Fig. 3, thecam 36 slides under theextension 45 and raises the clamping plate orgripper 44 from the platen to form a stop for the bill. As said clampingplate is swung upwardly at an angle to the surface of the platen, saidplate and platen form in effect a V shaped recess or triangular recessinto which the lower it may be released and allowed in the left hand,against the tension of the carbon sheet. The arm 31 may then be releasedby the right hand, as the cam is held against return movement by theclamping plate 44. The

operator next pulls down a sheet of forms with the right hand, engagesthe lower edge in the .V-shaped recess and then, using the same hand,rotates the platen with the right hand in the direction shown by thearrow in Fig. 3, which is i the reverse direction from the ordinarytyping operation and the operator continues to rotate the platen as manytimes as there are sections in the multiple sheet and to the top line ofthe last section that is fed around the platen, which stops the paper atthe proper typing line. At this point the platen is held againstrotation by the left hand of the operator and the lever 54 is pulledforwardly to engage with the ratchet so that when the typewriter isoperated the platen will rotate in the usual direction each time theplaten is moved from left to right at the end of a line.

As the outermost section of the form is filled in,-as for example in thecase of a bill, and the platen is rotated forwardly step by step in theusual manner during the return movement of the carriage, the spring 65in the roller on which the carbon is wound, maintains the carbon undertension and rewinds it step' by step as the platen rotates step bystep.When the form has been completely filled in, the lever 54 is pushed backto release the platen whereupon the spring roller rewinds the carbonpaper thus rotating the platen, and at the same time the typed form 10and the several carbon copies thereof issue from the platen in anupwardly direction, as shown in Fig. 4.

During the last revolution of the platen, the cam lever 31 is rockedforwardly by hand to lower the cam 36 and thus engage the end 45 of thegripper and raise the same to release the form, as the roll completesits last rotation. The form may then be lifted from the machine andseparated into the original and two, three or more carbons; depending onthe length of the form and the number of rows of perforations thereon.

As soon as the form is released from the platen, the lever 54 may bemoved to its normal operative position and the apparatus is ready forsubsequent operation.

Returning to the gripper means for holding the forward end of the formto the platen, as the edge of the form is pulled toward theplaten,

to drop into the V-shaped groove provided by the'elevated gripper; theform sliding over the upper surface of the carbon paper which, in turn,is supported by the guide 8| beneath it. The upper end of the form willbe partially supported by one of the tabs if it is a short form, as forexample the tab 25 shown in Fig. 1, or if it is one of the; longer formsit will be supported by the horizontal shelf and by its associated tabjointly, in such a manner that the form as a whole may accurately alignitself with respect to the platen,

since the leading edge abuts against the shaft 43 at the inner part ofthe V shaped recess. In addition, of course, the form may be furtheradjusted by hand, if desired.

It will be noted that when the carbon and the overlying form have beenrolled around the' platen, no form underlies the inner layer of carwouldbe the same and certain areas on the carbon would soon wear out fromrepeated use.

-In order to increase the life of the carbon sheet the bottom edges orthe edges that contact the platen are trimmed a small amount and withsmall graduations, making a variable height of the bottom margin of theinside bill. This has the effect of causing anautomatic shift of theareas that are used on the carbon sheet. For example, the operatorplaces a stack of forms on the lower shelf, there being perhaps severalhundred forms of substantially but not exactly the same overall length.The lowermost fifteen are of the same length, fifteen being about thenumber of times the carbon can be used on the same line. The next batchof fifteen forms above this first batch will be trimmed ofi slightly",at the bottom, and successive batches'will all be successively shorterso that more of the carbon sheet will be used than would otherwise bethe case.. In fact, substantially all of the area of the carbon coatingwill be used.

Also, it will be noted that the position of the carbon'with respect tothe platen and hence with respectto each form, may be readily shifted byif desired, asshown in Fig. 1, said edges having markings thereonindicating the spacing required in typing the forms.

In the modification shown in Fig. 6, the driving gear 49, which is thesame as the one shown in Fig. 3, is located in a suitable housing havingpreferably radially arranged stop pins 186, 81, 88 and 89 therein. Thegear 49 hasa pin or stop 90 thereon arranged to engage any one of saidstop pins when pressed inwardly, as for example the pin 89 whichprovides for the maximum rotation" of the platen as in the case of thelongest form on the lower shelf. The pin 86 would be depressed to limitthe throw of the gear and hence the rotation of the platen an amountsuflicient to completely roll around it the shortest form on theuppermost shelf. With this arrangement it is not necessary for. theoperator to turn the platen carefully by hand to the exact typing linebut instead the knob 53 may be given a rearward turn by running the handover it, depending on one of the stops to determine the proper number ofrotations of the platen.

Also, if it is desired to release the form automatically after thetyping operation has been completed, and the platen rotated untilthe'typed form is almost ready to be released from its clamping means, asuitable actuating device may be provided in conjunction with the gear49, for accomplishing this purpose. One such arrangement is shown inFig. '7, which may be used in conjunction with the stopsshowns in Fig. 6

Fig. '7. the gear 49 may be provided with the same stop 90 shown inFig.3, or with an independent pin, so positioned that toward the end ofthe return movement of said gear, said pin strikes maybe provided with anarrow fabric protective strip 83 on one or both edges;

a lever 9|, pivoted at. 92, whereby as the forward end is raised therear end is lowered, thus engaging a short arm or cam 83 on the shaft35, which is shown also in Fig. 3. As said shaft is rocked through asmall angle the cam levers 31 near the opposite. ends thereof are rockedand the cam ends 36 are lowered to engage the hinged clamp 44 and thusrelease the form during the last part of the rotation of the platen.frictional grip of the clamp 44 on the end of the form maybe overcomemerely by pulling the completed form from the machine by hand withoutnecessarily depending on the cams 36 to lift said clamp.

The rotation of the platen back to initial position may be accomplishedby depressing the lever 54 to release the platen whereby it rotatesunder the action of the spring roller as the carbon is being rewound,'or thelplaten may be rotated by hand by actuating the knob 53. Ineither case the rotation of the platen through the last few degrees atthe time the cams are releasing the clamp, is preferably effected byhand instead of by the pull exerted by the carbon in the final stages ofthe rewinding operation. If in the absence of the automatic release justdescribed, the operator should accidentally turn the platen beyond itsfinal position, the rounded edge 82 of the guide plate 8| preventstearing of the carbon paper. Where the automatic release is providedthere is no danger of the platen overrunning its initial position.

After the form has been pulled from the machine the operator may givethe platen a slight further rotation by turning the knob 53, thuscausing the clamp 44 to be raised by the cams 36 to open position, readyfor the insertion of the next printed form.

The carbon sheet may be of a color different from the typewriter ribbon.Thus, during the process of unwinding the platen to deliver the longsheet of typedforms, additional information may be typed on one or moreof the underlying forms, in a distinctive color, I. e. the color of thetypewriter ribbon, whereas the rest of the typing on all the formsexcept the original one appears in the color provided by the transfermaterial of the carbon sheet.

Although I have disclosed several embodiment of my invention, otherembodiments are contemplated and it will be understood further thatvarious changes and modifications may be made a by those skilled intheart in those forms of the invention shown in the drawings, withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as defined in the followingclaims. I

What I claim is: I 1. In a typewriter, a platen, a spring rolleradjacent the rear thereof and parallel thereto on The which a roll ofcarbon paper is adapted to be mounted, a clamping device on theperiphery of said platen adapted to hold the end of said carbon paper tounwind said paper when said platen is turned in one direction and topermit it to rewind when turned in the opposite direction, and a springclamp for gripping and releasing one end of a-strip of forms adapted tobe wound round and round the platen, superimposed on said carbon paperand with said end in substantial registration with the end of saidcarbon paper.

2. In a typewriter having a platen with a 1ongitudinal groove therein, areleasable clamp structure mounted in said groove and adapted to gripthe end of a roll of carbon, part of said clamp structure serving alsoto clamp the end of a strip of forms arranged to be interleaved with thecarbon round and round the platen, a movable cam adjacent theretoadapted to release the clamp for said strip of forms, and a guide membermounted at the rear of the typewriter for said forms to rest along andto guide them on the correct angle of approach toward the clamp on theplaten.

3. In a typewriter having a platen with a clamping rod removably mountedin a groove horizontally in said platen, whereby said rod may be raisedfrom said groove and the end of a roll of carbon paper inserted therein,and held when said rod is replaced, a clamping bar pivoted to said rodto clamp the end of a strip of multiple 'unit forms arranged to beinterleaved with the carbon round and round the platen, a movable camadjacent thereto adapted to raise said clamping bar for insertion of theend of said strip of printed forms, and supporting and guiding meansmounted at the rear of said typewriter and of sufficient length for saidforms to rest on without folding and be guided at the correct angle ofapproach toward the clamping bar on said platen. 4. In a typewriter,means for securing to,the platen the end of a carbon strip, means forclamping to the platen the end of an overlying strip of printed forms,eachform being of substantially the height of the circumference of saidplaten and adapted to be wound around and around said platen interwovenwith said carbon, a pinion on the platen shaft, an actuating gearmeshing with said pinion, a stop on said gear, and a plurality ofdepressible keys adapted to be actuated selectively and engaged by saidstop, to limit the rotation of said platen to substantially a multipleof the length of one of said forms.

EDWARD Z. LEWIS.

